Going to Gordes

What a difference a day makes! DaVinci woke up feeling good and it was a gorgeous sunny warm day.
We read good things about the Luberon village of Gordes and knew that they had a market day on Monday (thanks to friends at Slow Travel ;). So we headed in that direction, ready for more exploration of Provence.

We have already spent five days in Provence, but only saw Pont du Gard, and the grounds there and we really wanted to see more of the beautiful Provence villages in the Luberon before heading for Spain.

We could not have made a better choice as it was very charming and delighted us. We read that it is popular with wealthy Parisians and can be quite crowded in the high season, but again we lucked out and had it pretty much to ourselves. We left late as usual, so we missed the market,but thats okay because everyone but Mozart had seen a Provence market  before and we will catch one again on this trip. Perhaps we even missed some crowds by getting their after lunch hour. Sometimes we call ourselves the sloooowtravelers3 instead of soultravelers3 because we are slow as snails, especially when it comes to getting out in the morning.

We keep missing the French lunch hour that seems to be quite limited to basically noon to one thirty or so. We get up late and have a late brunch/breakfast, so we are ready for lunch later around two thirty when everything is closed or diners are leisurely finishing ,but they are closed to newcomers. So we were hungry when we reached Gordes and finding a bite to eat was our first priority. Six year olds are not great at the concept of waiting to eat when they are hungry.

We had asked at several places, when finally a lady led us to one right in the center of town which was closed,but they were willing to open their kitchen again and serve us. Mozart had pizza on the brain because we just saw one at a Patisserie and the manager  or owner overhead that and  made her an extraordinary tasting one even though it is not on the menu. So we sat outside on this magnificent day in the middle of this awesome ancient town and had a scrumptious meal. We had pasta and clams and the most tender veal and rice  added to the yummy Pizza and feasted on the picturesque scenery as well as
the food.

We then wondered around the town and enjoyed spectacular views and charming sights where ever we looked. We bought Mozart a cute Provencal outfit in their famous prints and she insisted on wearing it and said she would as long as we were in Provence. Unfortunately my camera can not capture the beauty, but just think quintessential Provence, breathtaking  every where. It is an area we could definitely live in and will be back to explore it more. We met an Australian and his wife from India and their young child who are on the road for five months and he used to live here thirty five years ago. He said it had not changed a bit.

We were loving it so much that we found it hard to leave as we kept finding something new to ogle. It is gorgeous and golden  at sunset and  lit up in the dark,but driving in the dark in a foreign land is a bummer. Our GPS Florence let us down on the way to Aix-en-Provence and it does not help that most campgrounds do not seem to have addresses just street names. After going in circles a bit  in the dark, we decided to set her back to Gordes as we had seen a Best Western amongst the lovely stone buildings just outside of town.
It was time for a opulent splurge!